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SAN JOSE, Calif. – With college football’s national signing day this week and the Super Bowl coming Sunday, Denver Broncos safety T.J. Ward couldn’t help but think about how far he has come since that day no one wanted him.

“What I remember about signing day is I didn’t sign anywhere,” said Ward, a standout high school player at nearby De La Salle and a top prospect until a serious knee injury his senior year. “I remember my leg was in a cast.”

So Ward walked on at Oregon, where he’d seen so many other top players from northern California go, and within a few years earned a scholarship and became one of the top defensive backs in the country, leading the Ducks in tackles his junior season. A year later, the Cleveland Browns made him a second-round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.

Ward returns to San Francisco this week a local hero, having made two Pro Bowls in six seasons as he and the Broncos meet the favored Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50. The high schooler who suffered a devastating knee injury has been an NFL standout, a starter in all 69 of his career games played in his first five years with the Browns and Broncos.

So maybe the story wouldn’t be complete without a little history repeating itself: Ward is nursing an ankle injury that knocked him out of the AFC title game.

Don’t expect it to keep him sidelined.

“I feel good, I am getting better every day,” he said this week. “Like I said before, I will be out there on Sunday.”

One of the players Ward hopes is tackled before they meet on the field is Carolina running back Jonathan Stewart, one of the best players in Oregon history. Ward and Stewart have been friends since their days together in Eugene, and texted each other congratulatory messages when the Super Bowl matchup was set.

Stewart, from Lacey, Washington, smiles when his former Oregon teammates are mentioned. He says he loves them like family and that the closeness of this Panthers team reminds him of his time with the Ducks.

Many teams say that, but Stewart says the proof is in what happens on the field. The Panthers wouldn’t be 17-1 this season if the team wasn’t cohesive, he said.

“You don’t win games because you have one player or a couple players, you win games because you have a good team,” Stewart said. I think we understand that, I think our older guys set great examples for the younger guys and the younger guys really and truly believe them and understand their role.”

“Playing at Oregon, it was the same thing, it’s that sense of family, that bond that you care, you genuinely care,” said Stewart, who has spent all of his eight NFL seasons with the Panthers after being the 13th overall pick in the 2008 draft.

But asked if he was in contact with his friend this week, Stewart said, “Not at all… Super Bowl 50 doesn’t happen to everybody… When I found out they won and then we won, I definitely gave him a text and he texted me back. Just have to take it all in Sunday. It’s nothing but game time.”

Ward said the ups and downs of his journey are something he appreciates now. When times were tough, he worked to make them better, he said, and that’s what he thinks will happen with Oregon football this fall.

“Oh man, Go Ducks, first off,” Ward said. “I appreciate the support. Love you guys, thank you. I definitely keep a close eye on the program. They have had a lot of great seasons back to back to back. It wasn’t one of their best seasons but they finished strong.

“It was a tough bowl game, but they are a young team. They will be right back to it again.”

Ward said the talent level at Oregon gives aspiring NFL players a taste of how competitive it is to make a pro team – and then stay in the league. When he arrived on campus in 2005, he had to first make his reputation on the Ducks scout and special teams. So he made the most of it.

“At Oregon, you can rise and fall,” he said. “So if you’re a top recruit, don’t rest on your laurels. And if you’re not, keep working. I try to make the most of every opportunity. And if I do fail, it is not going to stop me from giving my best effort.”

The two friends who play on opposite sides of the ball take predictable viewpoints in sizing up Sunday’s contest.

Stewart says the Panthers offense is unlike any other.

“I think it’s a great matchup -- two good defenses, two stellar offenses,” he said. “Denver’s defense is pretty good, especially that front seven, but I believe in our offensive line and the different things we can do on offense. We’ll be a great challenge for them.”

Ward says he expects the Denver offense to play well, particularly given many believe it could be quarterback Peyton Manning’s final NFL game. And if the offense struggles?

“We pride ourselves,” he said, “that, first and foremost, the buck stops here – no matter how we’ve been performing.”